After 76 years, researchers say they’ve solved the mystery of the Hindenburg explosion: it was static

The Hindenburg exploding at Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937.

In a span of 37 seconds, the once luxurious and futuristic LZ 129 Hindenburg burst into flames and disintegrated, taking 36 lives on its way down.

In that time, the 245-metre long airship created a mystery that stood unsolved for 76 years. Theories of sabotage and possible mechanical errors circulated widely over that period, but a group of researchers claim to have solved the great riddle after all these decades.

It was static.

They’re not the first to float this solution, but aeronautical engineer Jem Stansfield and his South West Research Institute team have a series of explosions to back them up.

In a series of experiments, the team used various methods to blow up or set fire to a series of 24-metre scale models and observed the results.

Based on their trials, paired with eye-witness accounts, they’ve concluded that a thunderstorm ignited an uncontained buildup of hydrogen.

Soon after the airship became charged with static, hydrogen leaked into the ventilation shafts. Then, when ground workers took hold of the landing ropes, they “earthed” the airship by creating an electrical connection to the ground and ignited the hydrogen.

“I think the most likely mechanism for providing the spark is electrostatic,” Stanfield told the Independent. “That starts at the top, then the flames from our experiments would’ve probably tracked down to the centre. With an explosive mixture of gas, that gave the whoomph when it got to the bottom.”

A documentary explaining the sequence of events causing the explosion is set to air on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on Thursday.

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